blue moons and sunrises
by whimsyappletea
Summary: "This seems like a good start to an interesting year, don't you think?" —of battles and contests, coloured auras, and the important nothingness of small talk. BarryDawn, Riley; poke!high school alternate universe.


**a/n (edited):** I MADE IT I MADE IT I FINSHED IT AT LIKE 2AM _BUT I MADE IT_ falls over

i finished the entirety of this monster in one week, basically typing at the speed of light _everywhere_ just so i can make it on time... but i think it all worked out in the end hahah

theres always been a soft spot in my heart for the sinnoh region mainly because i started playing pokémon from gen 4 onwards, and revisiting bulbapedia for reference to write this fic has been a very fun and very nostalgic experience, hehe ;w;)_

if anyones curious about the out-of-place honorifics and seemingly gratuitous japanese even tho they all clash, pls point fingers at my friend—initially this was supposed to be written entirely with their japanese names, but for her benefit it ended up like... _this_ (/ oAo)/

either way happy birthday **coconut aka peanutstick**! this fic may not be what you entirely asked for and not half as funny as id wanted it to be but i hope its still an enjoyable read orz;;

characters and cameos all over the place but mainly you will find barry/dawn, riley/lucas, bits of volkner/jasmine and implied lucian/cynthia. and also if so inclined, you may _also_ view this fic as a everyone/riley or a everyone/dawn lmfao

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'_It's going to be a whole new experience for Dawn in Sinnoh Academy, so I'm leaving her in your care. —Johanna.'_

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**blue moons and sunrises**

_i'm wishing too, for something new; it will come true, with me and you—  
>and then we'll finally break through<em>.

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Riley doesn't quite know what to expect when he returns to school on the first day, but he sure hadn't been expecting _this_, of all things.

_This_ being a kid with the strongest set of lungs ever, considering that he's quite a distance away from the school gates and he can already hear him screeching.

"MARK MY WORDS," is what he yells, the figure perched at the top of the tall gates waving his arms erratically. As Riley slows to a stop and peers up curiously, he can see the boy's scrawny build and blond hair sticking up messily. "I'LL BE THE BEST POKEMON TRAINER IN ALL OF SINNOH, JUST WAIT AND SEE!"

Hm. Riley doesn't recall being that hyperactive when _he_ was in Year One.

"Were we as noisy as this young un back then?" From beside him, a girl voices his thoughts aloud in the form of a teasing question, a serene smile on her pretty face.

"Hey, Cheryl," he says with a smile, tipping his signature blue hat in greeting and watching his friend bow her head in kind. "No, I don't believe we were. How were your holidays?"

"Fine, thank you—and I hope yours were, too," Cheryl replies graciously, setting her bags down carefully before reaching up to arrange her long green hair in an elaborate braid. "I have checked the Board, and it seems that we are classmates once more."

Riley grins, but his reply is cut short by another boastful cry from the odd blond boy.

"EVEN THE GREAT DIAGLA AND PALKIA WILL SUPPORT ME IN MY CAUSE!"

He can't help the laugh that escapes him, and at his classmate's questioning gaze, he shrugs, gesturing to the scene as a whole, to the school guards attempting to bring the kid down, to the crowd that's watching with amusement.

"This seems like a good start to an interesting year, don't you think?"

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_12.30pm  
><em>**From**: Sunshine-hime

I'm in Class 1-B! Come visit me maybe? ～('▽^人)

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_12.32pm  
><em>**From**: Fedora-sama

Sorry, sunshine, can't – busy with Student Council work this week (´；Д；｀) I'll take a rain check on that, though!

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_12.34pm  
><em>**From**: Sunshine-hime

Hmmmph. You'd better keep your word! ヽ(｀⌒´ )ノ

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"Why are you grinning to yourself while texting? Did you find a lover without me knowing?"

He sets his phone down on the table and leans back in his chair, his head bumping into the other boy's hip directly behind him. "It was a _friend_," he stresses, looking faintly amused. "Then again you've probably never even heard of the term, since you don't have any."

"_Ouch_," Roark laughs, passing him a copy of their agenda today before sitting down. The rest of the Student Council members are now streaming in, taking their respective places in the meeting room. "If you're this sassy now, I can't wait to see what you'll be like when you _do_ get a lover."

Riley swats at him in a _whatever-just-start-the-meeting-already_ manner; the Treasurer obliges, but not without a knowing smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

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_10.12am  
><em>**From**: Fedora-sama

Wait for me in your classroom for a bit, okay?

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Everyone in class stills when the door slides open to reveal a head of navy-blue hair peeking in. "A _senpai_," they mutter furtively as his gaze sweeps across the room. "Who could he be looking for?"

His expression brightens considerably once he spots a quiet girl at the back, who's already half-rising from her chair to greet him. "Dawn," he sings, making a beeline towards her and enveloping her in a warm hug. Paying no heed to the stares around them, Riley twirls the girl in his arms in his excitement. "Long time no see! How's your first week of school been? Fun?"

"It's been a while," Dawn agrees, dusting her skirt off as he sets her down gently. She looks nice in the school uniform, all straight lines and crisp cuts that suit her perfectly. "And yes, quite."

The older boy regards her for a moment. Reaches up, and smudging his thumb under her eyes tenderly. "Not doing so great in the sleeping department, though," he comments. She's always had trouble getting accustomed to falling asleep in new places, after all.

"Oh, right, I have something for you." Riley produces a lunchbox from his bag and pushes it into her hands. Before she can protest, he says, "Consider it a non-returnable welcome-to-school gift! I made all your favourites, too."

He misses the hushed whispers of 'wow, he can _cook_, too?', but picks up on an aura spiking in green envy behind him. Before he can turn to look, a blur of yellow slams straight into Dawn.

"Daaawn," the blur whines, and Riley realizes it's the same kid who was yelling from the top of the school gates the other day. He must be one of her classmates, he assumes. "I leave to pee for less than a minute and you're chatting up some blue dude? How cruuuel!"

... 'Blue dude'?

Dawn merely glances at her wristwatch, unperturbed as always. "It's been five minutes, Barry," she tells him, trying (and failing) to pry his arms off her shoulders without jostling the lunchbox in her hands too much.

"Ehhh? No way! It _has_ to be at most three minutes, tops!" Barry protests, looking straight at Riley with a challenging stare. Which is rather odd in itself, since he's barely met the kid, let alone know him very well, and all he's done is to talk to D—

Oh.

Riley manages to neutralize his expression before a devious grin can surface. He leans in, tucks away a stray lock of hair behind Dawn's ear, and whispers loud enough for the blond boy to hear, "I have to go now—enjoy my homemade bento during lunch, sunshine."

And then he walks away from a puzzled Dawn and a fuming Barry—unknowingly leaving behind a great number of awestruck fangirls (and fanboys) in Class 1-B.

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_3.34pm  
><em>**From**: Sunshine-hime

Barry isn't my _only_ friend, jeez! I met someone named Lucas the other day, and he's really nice! Reallyyy smart too, since he studies pokémon evolution over in 1-A, hehe ヽ(´▽｀)ノ

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He's on his way back after helping a teacher carry her things to the staffroom when he bumps into someone, sending documents flying and a hardcover clattering to the ground.

"Ah, I'm sorry, a-are you alright?" The boy squeaks, pushing up the red beret that's obscuring his vision. And then: "Oh, no, the papers!"

He gathers all the sheets of what seem to be research material scattered across the floor, looking more than a little frazzled. Riley lends him a hand, picking up the fallen book for him. _Lucas, 1-A_, is written neatly on the front.

"Oh, um, thank you, senpai—ah!" His beret has slipped down again, but Riley fixes it with swift, nimble fingers. "T-thanks... again..."

"No problem," he replies, feeling vaguely amused by this whole incident. My, what a klutz. "Why don't you get another hat, since this one's too big?"

"No way!" Lucas' eyes are shining brightly with his outburst. "This... this beret—it was a gift from Professor Rowan when I was younger. It's very important to me, so... n-no way am I going to get another one!"

Surprisingly determined, this boy is, Riley muses with raised eyebrows. How interesting.

As if realizing he's been quite rude to an upperclassman, the boy's cheeks dust pink. His aura has coloured similarly in his embarrassment. "Well look at the time it's getting late so I'd better get going now thanks a lot for your help goodbye senpai," he garbles, fleeing down the corridor and disappearing around the corner.

... Well then.

Riley turns to leave, but pauses when he hears the crinkle of paper beneath his foot. In his mind, everything registers like this: a document; a document left behind by Lucas; no, not a document but a confirmation report of a course transfer; wait, this doesn't belong to Lucas—

His train of thought screeches to a stop when he notices the name at the top.

_Dawn, 1-B._

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'_I was wondering why a boy like Barry would be in a class for the contest course. Since when did you send in the transfer form?'_

'_...'_

A sigh into the receiver._ 'I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're thinking. Well, I'm a _little_ put-off that you've kept this from me for so long, but I'm not _angry_, alright? It's just... battling. Pokémon battling. Does your mother know about this?'_

'_...no. But it's fine. I'm getting better at it, you know.'_

'_Oh?' _An implied challenge._ 'I'll be the judge of that, sunshine.'_

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"Lucario, your opponent's weak—one last Bone Rush!"

The aura pokémon is visibly scuffed-up and weary from the fight, but he summons the last of his strength to lunge forward, something half-forming in his paws as he gets closer and closer to finish off his opponent, but—

"Piplup, _now_."

Piplup dodges mere seconds from impact, blasting one of the strongest streams of bubbles in the battle thus far, hitting Lucario head-on and sending him crashing into the nearby wall. He struggles to stand for a moment before slumping, finally down for the count.

"And there we have it, everyone! This year's winner of _Battlemaster Games: Inter-year Round_ is Dawn of Year 1, Class B!"

"HELL YEAH! THAT'S MY FRIEND OUT THERE! WOO-HOOOO! DAWN THE BADASS IS IN THE _HOUSE_!"

Riley recalls his fallen pokémon, looking up to grin at his opponent as she approaches from the other side of the battlefield. "I'm impressed," he admits. "You attacked at the last minute when I least expected it and outsmarted the Attack Specialist himself." Jokingly, he takes off his blue fedora and plops it down on the girl's head. "_Hats off_ to you, sunshine."

"I'd never thought I'll see the day you crack a pun," Dawn says. Her tone is bland, but there's a faint spark of mirth in her gaze. "But your pun's so bad, I wish I'd never seen the light of it at all."

He laughs, but before he can fire a witty comeback, she's rugby-tackled to the side by an excitedly-babbling Barry, nearly knocking the fedora clear off of her.

"Holy _cow_ I didn't know you were such a good battler I can't believe you didn't tell me about this earlier and here I thought you were my loyal disciple you sneaky little girl why I oughta _fine_ you a million yen for that but before anything else TEACH ME YOUR WAAAYYYSSS DAWN—"

How does he _say_ that all in one breath? The blue-haired upperclassman can't help but wonder.

"That's something I ask myself every day," another boy sighs in response; Riley hadn't known that he'd said that aloud, and hadn't even noticed him approach until now. He must've come from the spectators' section. "Hello, senpai. I didn't know you were one of the final bosses for _Battlemaster_."

"I didn't know I was one, either—not until two hours ago, anyway," he says, offering a casual yet elegant shrug. "My friend... ah, _kindly coaxed_ me to take his place."

Thanks again, Roark.

Lucas laughs in understanding, clasping his hands behind his back. "I see. Well, both you and Dawn did very well in the end. Like, I know you lost, but... at least you had fun, right?" As if assuming he's overstepped his boundaries again, he blushes, stammering on, "I-I mean, I'm not a good battler and all, a-and I... um, I..."

Riley supresses the urge to chuckle. Such a polite boy—but not a good battler, hm? "Would you like me to tutor you, then?" He asks. "In battling, of course. It wouldn't be any trouble, and it'll do some good for me to have some extra practice."

The younger boy stares. Ducks his head, says in a tiny voice:

"Um. Um, I—yeah. I mean, _yes_, I'd like that very much. Thank you."

.

'_So you haven't decided on your elective yet?'_

'_...hm.'_

'_I should've known.' _A short laugh._ 'If you want my two-bits in this matter, sunshine, I'd say to take up the contest elective. It's not the full course and they only cover the basics, so I think you can handle it.'_

'_...'_

'_Jeez, don't be so apprehensive! While you _are_ on your way to becoming a skilled battler, you and I both know your mother's flair for contests runs in your blood. And besides—who says you can't do both?'_

.

Seeing his lecturer pace outside the Contest Hall is probably one of the strangest things Riley's seen thus far this year—right up there with trying to convince Buck that it would be a _very_ bad idea to set fire to Ms Candice's skirt for a good (perverted) 'shot', that's for sure.

"Sensei," he greets as he comes closer, causing Mr Volkner to stop abruptly. "Are you... alright?"

Whatever embarrassed expression the blond teacher could've had on his face is quickly arranged into a calm, almost bored one, but Riley can sense an aura of anxiety being pushed back within him. "Yes," he replies, adjusting the collar of his shirt with the clear of his throat. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

... Huh.

Mentally Riley shrugs it off, making his way into the Contest Hall. He has a free period now and this elective class has just ended, so he might as well inform Lucas that he needs to reschedule their tutor session after hearing the last-minute announcement about a Student Council meeting.

A petite lady with orange hair-ties in her hair breezes past him, heading towards the exit with small, dainty steps. He doesn't make much of it—she's probably a guest speaker, or something like that—until he remembers Mr Volkner loitering outside.

Oh. Oh, so _that's_ why.

The blue-haired boy rolls his eyes good-naturedly, silently wishing all the best for his terribly blunt foot-in-the-mouth lecturer.

"What did they say to you?"

... ?

He pauses at the voice, hushed yet familiar. Creeps towards the back exit of the Contest Hall, and listens for a quiet, straining moment.

"Those idiots weren't _hassling_ you, were they?" Barry demands, making an effort to lower his volume and failing quite miserably. "Just because they're older than us and part of some dumbass spacey hood gang doesn't give them the _goddamn_ right to—"

"They didn't," a girl injects smoothly, calm and steady as always. "Lucas lost his Pokédex, so I was helping him look for it. A girl called Mars found it but refused to give it back, so we had a battle. That's all there is to it."

There's a lull in the conversation, and Riley can practically see the sceptical furrow knitted between the blond's eyebrows. "No, that can't be all! If that's the case, then why did the rest of Team Galactic also demand battles from you afterwards? What if—"

"Nothing will happen." Dawn's tone brooks no room for any further protests or arguments. "You're reading too much into this—Barry, _please_." _Drop the subject, won't you?_ Knowing her, she's probably giving him one of those looks with the lip-biting and silently pleading eyes, and a weaker man would not be able to say anything else after that.

Sure enough, Barry relents. "Alright," he says finally. "Alright. But if anything happens—anything at _all_—you tell me right away, you hear me?"

Riley has heard enough for now, and turns to leave without ever being discovered. He can text Lucas about the rescheduling later, anyway.

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_3.31pm  
><em>**From**: Fedora-sama

Hey, sunshine, you've heard of Team Galactic, right? The Student Council has been dealing with a lot of cases involving stolen pokémon that are linked to them – especially Cyrus of Year 3, Class A – so stay safe, okay?

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_4.45pm_  
><strong>From:<strong> Fedora-sama

... Dawn? Dawn, are you there?

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_5.02pm_  
><strong>From:<strong> Cheryl

Riley, I'd deemed it fit to inform you that Mira has been unable to contain her excitement about a 'gutsy freshie duking it out with the Space Mafia Boss out of school compounds'. Hopefully this will aid you in your search for your little princess, yes?

.

He really has to thank his lucky stars for a friend like Cheryl, Riley thinks, recklessly rushing through Route 203 with Lucario by his side, hoping to make it to Oreburgh Gate before it's too late—

"Prinplup, Metal Claw."

The blue-haired boy arrives just in time to see her pokémon let out a war cry and deliver the final super-effective blow to an opposing Weaville—Cyrus' triumph card in battle.

Against all odds, Dawn has won.

"As we have previously agreed, Team Galactic will make an effort to cease our activities from now on. But I must say... even at this point, you are still brimming with untapped potential," Cyrus muses, gaze dull yet disturbingly intense. "And the basis of your power seems to be your compassion towards pokémon." He pivots on his foot, melting into the shadows, but his parting words are clear as day:

"What a waste of your talent."

Riley makes to intervene, but someone yanks him to the side, out of sight and hearing range from the two battlers.

"What on earth—?"

"Shh," Lucas murmurs, placing one hand over his mouth and using the other to gesture towards the entrance of the cave, where a boy of blond hair has appeared.

Dawn has just noticed his arrival, too. "It's over, now," she says softly. If Cyrus' words have had any impact on her at all, she doesn't show it. "The pokémon theft cases will be all settled soon. Cyrus has given me his word." When her friend remains silent, she ventures, "Barry...? Barry, are you al—"

With a quick tug of her wrist, he pulls her close, arms encircling around her in a warm embrace.

"—right," the girl finishes without missing a beat, her expression shifting to something of mild puzzlement as she blinks. "Um."

"Did you have _any_ idea how worried I was when you suddenly disappeared like that?" He asks, voice muffled and subdued for once. Belatedly Riley remembers Dawn mentioning that his father is one of the five Frontier Brains, the leader of the Battle Tower and one of the best trainers there is—

But how long does it take for someone to catch up to the best before they get left behind again?

Perhaps that's why Barry is so keen on getting ahead all the time, especially when it comes to Dawn, and—and perhaps Dawn herself realizes this too, her own arms reaching up to pat his back gingerly.

"I'm not going anywhere," she says, sounding firm and confident despite her hesitant movements. "You can count on it."

The hand over Riley's mouth has slackened a little, and he notices the faint curve on Lucas' lips as the younger boy watches his two friends share a moment together.

While that's nice and everything—

Lucas jolts at the sensation of warm air blowing against his hand, his face heating up horribly as he realizes his hand has been covering the upperclassman's mouth for an inappropriate amount of time now, stuttering unneeded apologies and incoherent explanations that stain his aura an abashed pink.

—Riley still finds his entertainment stemming from this boy, most of all.

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_10.22am  
><em>**From**: Sunshine-hime

Meet me for lunch on the roof, please? |･ω･｀)⊃

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"He kissed me."

"... I'm sorry?"

"He kissed me," she repeats, her expression wavering between confusion and rising panic. It's a sight to behold, seeing the unflappable battler-slash-contester become so flustered over the matters of the heart. "He—he had these flowers in his hands, and he gave them to me when he declared he loved me... and because he was talking at his usual volume it took me a while to process the whole thing, but before I could he pulled me to him and—oh, _god_, it happened so fast I didn't even know how to react I just—"

For all her talents and achievements, Dawn is still but a girl, through and through.

"Dawn," he says, cutting her off before she escalates into full-out panic. "Dawn, my little sunshine, look at me." Reluctantly she complies, her normally-sleek hair now poking up in tuffs from the countless times she's run her fingers through it. He helps her smooth her locks down, and continues, "So he likes you, sure, but what about _you_?"

She blinks. Blushes to the roots of her hairs when she realizes what he means, and stares down hard at her shoes, as if they hold the answer she's looking for. "I don't know," she admits. "I'm just... really confused."

"About what?"

"My... feelings...?"

He can tell that Dawn is more unwilling to speak than usual, but he simply smiles, saying, "Stop thinking." At her bewildered stare, he explains, "You're thinking too much, and it won't help you resolve your feelings one bit. Stop thinking for a moment, and picture Barry in your mind—does he make you smile?"

"...yes."

"Do you feel tingles spreading through your body, warm even from the tips of your toes at the thought of him?"

"...yes."

"Do you love Barry?"

"Yes."

The final word slips past her lips as if it's the most natural thing in the world, and not a single ounce of hesitance can be heard. Even the girl herself looks faintly surprised at how confident her answer had been without thinking too deeply into it.

"Hey, don't just stand there like a pretty statue," he jokes, bumping his hip into Dawn's lightly. He's just glad her aura's back to its usual starbright glow again. "Go on and tell him now, before he runs away again."

Riley watches her disappear down the staircase, and from behind one of the many rows of gorgeous plants, a voice remarks, "Wow. Maybe you should take your own advice sometime."

"I don't know," he replies casually, as though he's known the upperclassman has been with them and listening in on their conversation this whole time. "With all due respect, senpai, I think you ought to resolve your underlying tension with Lucian first."

"_Smooth_," Cynthia snorts, her long hair curling around her in large, rolling waves. She sashays forward and steals his hat in one smooth motion, heading towards the exit with a sly smirk.

"Let's hope you'll be just as smooth when the time comes, hm?"

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_12.51pm  
><em>**From**: Sunshine-hime

Thanks, Riley. (*/ω＼*)

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Riley doesn't quite know what to expect when he gets invited along for her first totally-not-a-date-but-still-a-date with Barry, but he sure hadn't been expecting _this_, of all things.

_This_ being sipping honey tea with Lucas in Floaroma one town over from Sinnoh Academy, watching Chimchar and Prinplup enjoy themselves in the vast, colourful meadow—much like what their respective trainers are doing right now, actually.

"How do you handle being the third-wheel all the time in school?" Riley asks conversationally, tossing Lucario's Pokéball for him to relax here, too.

Probably having a similar thought as him, Lucas produces the Pokéball containing his Turtwig, letting him out for a while. He looks on as the tiny leaf Pokémon waddles after Lucario into the flowers, and says absently, "You get used to it after a while."

The younger boy's aura has dulled in his inattentiveness, so Riley decides to be adventurous for this question. "Hm, wouldn't you want to be in a relationship yourself?"

"Sure, why not." And then, after a beat: "...e-eh? N-no, wait, I—um, I'm sorry, senpai, I wasn't really listening—"

He shrugs, leaning back on his palms and feeling the petals brush against his skin. "I've heard that people are most honest when they aren't focussed on the conversation, though, so... who would you want to be in a relationship with?"

"Um," Lucas stutters, his red beret slipping over his eyes but quickly fixed by Riley once again. He flushes when the blue-haired boy's fingers linger. "I, um..."

"WOAH! CHECK OUT ALL THIS HONEY ON THE TREE!"

... Uh-oh.

Riley can't help the laugh that escapes him as he pushes himself off the ground, turning to offer the still-embarrassed Lucas a hand. It's fine that he can't get an answer out of the younger boy now—

'_Let's hope you'll be just as smooth when the time comes, hm?'_

He's still got another interesting year ahead of him, after all.

.

_as we keep trying, we'll find—  
>you're always gonna be there too, we're always singing the same tune<br>every day from now on._  
>.<p>

'_There's no need to worry, auntie. I think she can handle herself just fine. —Riley.'_

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**owari.**

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**a/n:** things that never made the final cut for this story:

- barry/dawn/lucas love triangle with endship being barry/dawn  
>- onesided!rileydawn; riley later discovers that hes bi and likes barry (which freaks him out entirely)  
>- riley has blue-painted fingernails<br>- looker/johanna action (? this was my friends idea i swear omg)

**disclaimer:** i do not own Pokémon, or Megurine Luka and Kagamine Rin's _drop pop candy_ (translyrics by JubyPhonic/Kuraiinu/rachie).


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